Like a digital sentry standing guard at the nation’s gateways, technology is quietly redrawing India’s defence against cyber-crime.
Sanchar Saathi: From Controversy to Cyber Shield
The Modi government’s Sanchar Saathi initiative has steadily emerged as a central pillar of India’s expanding cyber security framework, mirroring both the scale of digital adoption and the urgency of countering a rapidly evolving threat landscape.
While a government order recommending the app’s pre-installation triggered sharp debate during the last Parliament session, public response has since told a different story. The platform has logged over 20 crore portal hits and more than 2 crore mobile app downloads, making it one of the government’s most widely used citizen-facing cyber safety tools.
Highlighting its impact, union minister for communications and development of the north-eastern region Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “Sanchar Saathi has led to the blocking of 1.52 crore mobile connections linked to unauthorised or suspicious activity. A further 2 crore mobile numbers have been disconnected following verification processes. The crackdown has extended to digital communication platforms as well, with 27 lakh WhatsApp accounts linked to fraudulent SIMs disconnected.” He added that Sanchar Saathi has been functioning as a strong and resilient firewall against cyber frauds.
Speaking at an event organised by RSS-linked magazine Panchajanya, the minister noted that the scale of engagement reflected growing public trust in the platform, which is designed to detect and block telecom-related fraud at the user level.
Backend Intelligence and the Battle Against Digital Deception
Beyond public-facing tools, cyber fraud detection increasingly relies on backend intelligence systems such as ICORE, another platform launched by the ministry that integrates data from multiple agencies. “Around 1.35 crore spoofed calls used to be recorded from foreign callers and in which fraudsters disguise their caller identity. These called have been identified and neutralised… and the numbers of spoofed calls has come down by almost 95 per cent,” Scindia said, crediting coordinated digital forensics and intelligence inputs.
A critical component of this ecosystem is the Financial Fraud Risk Indicators (FFRIs) platform, which enables banks and financial institutions to flag high-risk transactions in real time. “Nearly 800–900 banks and financial entities along with investigating agencies of all the states are currently integrated into this ecosystem,” he said, noting faster responses to phishing, SIM swap fraud and identity theft.
Addressing privacy concerns around pre-installation, Scindia remarked, “However, following the debate, we let this idea of pre-installation go. There is a very thin line between privacy and public convenience.” Users, he stressed, remain free to download the app when needed.
In the quiet hum of servers and signals, India’s digital armour continues to thicken—line by invisible line.
Summary
Sanchar Saathi has become a major pillar of India’s cyber security push, recording over 20 crore portal hits and 2 crore app downloads. The platform has helped block crores of suspicious mobile connections and sharply reduced spoofed calls. Alongside backend tools like ICORE and FFRIs, it reflects a growing, tech-driven approach to combating cyber fraud.
